Lost photo unites fans of old airport
Man who misplaced group picture taken at Kai Tak in 1973 finds it again on Facebook, leading to a meeting with another enthusiast
A group photograph taken 40 years ago at Kai Tak airport has brought together two strangers with a shared passion for Hong Kong's aviation history.
The photo was taken at Christmas in 1973, and features Hui Kei-chung, then 24, standing in front of a Cathay Pacific plane on the runway with his mother and other family members. The group had just returned from a visit to the Philippines.
Hui lost the group photograph soon after but recently stumbled across it again on Facebook, where it was used to promote an exhibition dedicated to Kai Tak airport organised by the Conservancy Association Centre for Heritage.
"It's amazing how I came across the photo again after decades," said Hui, now 64.
"But my memories of the trip are still vivid."
After some help from the exhibition's organiser, Hui and collector James Ng Pong-mau, the photo's owner, met for the first time at the exhibition in Sai Ying Pun last week. The showcase features more than 100 rare historical photographs and valuable artefacts, including flight advertisements from the 1950s and handwritten plane tickets from the 1960s.
"I suspect the photo he has was originally mine," Hui joked.